Column: Is the UFC Avoiding Top Talent?

No one questioned Bellator's signing of Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. Barely past his prime, Jackson brings much needed credibility to Bellator's light-heavyweight division. In November he proved it with a 1st round TKO over Joey Beltran.

Credibility is the name of the game. While Bellator is trying to earn more, the UFC is trying to protect theirs, and future star Ben Askren was a consequence of this organizational battle.

When the UFC had a chance to didn't sign Ben Askren many asked "why not?"

The recent Bellator Champion is 12-0 and had rolled through the competition. After defending the welterweight title for a fourth time, the former Olympic wrestler and NCAA D1 National Champion was granted a release from Bellator and most assumed that he'd be a shoe-in as a top contender for the UFC welterweight belt.

That wasn't the case. Dana White claimed a lack of talent and paradoxically chastised Bellator for letting a talent like Askren leave. Most of the media were stunned by this, but Askren signed with a lesser-known organization, and we all moved on without much fuss.

Yet, maybe we shouldn't move on, maybe we should dig a little deeper and demand a bit more; especially because the UFC's welterweight division is weak.

Georges St. Pierre is gone, and even if he was still fighting, his time as champion was running out quickly. Johnny Hendricks - with a lesser wrestling pedigree than Askren - exposed holes in GSP's game and if it weren't for poor officiating we'd have a new UFC welterweight champion. (Although, as an aside, Hendricks did barely beat Askren in a high school wrestling match).

GSP was no dummy and vacated the title. Thus, with title in flux, one might naturally assume that this (potentially weakened) division could use a new infusion of talent, especially with the stardom that Askren brings. Needless to say, Askren wasn't signed, and the fans were left wondering why not?.

Yet, the answer may not be, as White posited, that Askren was not talented enough, but he may have simply been too talented for the UFC.

Is that possible?

Let's take a look.

MMA industry insiders have been awed by Askren for quite some time. One high level MMA coach who asked to remain anonymous, said that "Askren is too good for the UFC. He'd destroy GSP and he'd obliterate Hendricks. The welterweight division has yet to see a talent like Askren, and coming from Bellator, he'd make the organization look bad."

It is no secret that the UFC and Bellator have been facing off and will do so for quite some time. While the UFC has a stronghold in the United States, Bellator is excelling in Latin America and backed by one of the largest media companies in the world, Viacom.

Amidst this business battle, Askren was a victim.

The UFC couldn't sign Bellator's former champion, because if he took the championship belt with ease, he'd expose the UFC's talent level as being subpar to Bellator's. This would discredit the UFC's perceived monopoly on elite talent, and give rise to the argument that Bellator in fact might have better fighters.

The UFC couldn't allow this to happen and Askren signed a deal with the Singapore-based ONE Fighting Championship, allowing Askren to move out of the US market for a little while.

Make no mistake, barring an injury, the UFC will in all likelihood sign Askren someday - but now they can do it on their own terms, without the threat of losing credibility to Bellator. And once his contract with ONE Fighting is over, the UFC will probably sign him, promote him, and in all likelihood, Askren will be a star.

Until then we'll have to wait and watch for other victims of the UFC vs Bellator feud fade from the limelight. We can only hope we'll see Askren fight the best before it's too late, that is, if the UFC really has the best talent.